Hey all, new to football manager, i am playing as alfreton town, going from BSP to Premiership, used the FMRTE to give me a good team, (cheating i know), iv started to look for wonderkids, but im getting sooo confused about the potential ability, so iv got 3 questions to ask.

Why Is Carlos Fierro On other foprums rated the best striker in the game, yet in my game he only has 1 star potential?

why is that when i buy wonderkids (actually got it on there information) and they come to my club they lose the wonderkid status,

is potential in this game aloud of rubbish? because iv yet to find a player with 5 stars!

Fierro is banded around as the best, however has never done anything for me personally. I have stopped buying him, but at the lowly level you're playing at he'll do the business so using him can't hurt.

Because your club is low and doesn't have the rep to get the player noticed by the press etc.

At times it is, but at times it's right. Sometimes you have to take a gamble and use your gut.

Bear in mind if you want any players to improve good coaches are invaluable. You can't just play them at a crap standard and think they'll all be world beaters.

so im guessing it depends on how good your team is then? because i have got the genie scout manager, scouted someone with 187 potential, and is still on got a potential rating of 2*....how do i use my coaches? or does it automatically do the coaching?

so im guessing it depends on how good your team is then? because i have got the genie scout manager, scouted someone with 187 potential, and is still on got a potential rating of 2*....how do i use my coaches? or does it automatically do the coaching?

Coaching is done automatically, you can sign coaches though to add to your coaching staff.

my club has worldwide reptation, thats why im confused, the report on fierro is saying its only 1 1/2 stars, it makes no sense, does the potential ability change over time? or does it stay the same?

It can change. On my Arsenal game I scouted a 17 year old who had 2* potential, he's now 20 and has ****1/2 potential.

The potential of the player never actually changes. Your scout just gave you a bad report, I had the same with Verratti when my scout told me he only had **1/2 potential then two years later when he was 5 times as expensive he was ****.

my club has worldwide reptation, thats why im confused, the report on fierro is saying its only 1 1/2 stars, it makes no sense, does the potential ability change over time? or does it stay the same?

It can change. On my Arsenal game I scouted a 17 year old who had 2* potential, he's now 20 and has ****1/2 potential.

The potential of the player never actually changes. Your scout just gave you a bad report, I had the same with Verratti when my scout told me he only had **1/2 potential then two years later when he was 5 times as expensive he was ****.

The following is from a thread I posted some time ago, I hope it helps.

quote Phelix

There is a fairly large misconception among players on this board in regards to the star ratings of players. In particular the player "Potential" star rating, and its continual changes. The following is my attempt to clear up the confusion surrounding this feature.

The first issue I want to clear up is that the star ratings aren't simply an abstraction of the players fixed Potential Ability score. Once the database is generated at game creation, and once new gens are added to the game, each player has a potential ability score which is fixed, it cannot change. It is simply whether they ever reach this score with their Current Ability that is in question.

What this means is that a players potential can never "Go Down" as some people claim.

The second thing I want to clear up is that the star ratings are issued by your backroom staff. Scouts, coaches, assistant managers etc. As such, they are prone to error and may misjudge a players potential by a large or small amount in either direction. So as the season wears on, be prepared for these ratings to change as your staff re-assess and re-evaluate the players in your squad.

What this means is that the star ratings can change, up or down, throughout the season. Don't get distraught if a players potential star rating has dropped, he always had, and always will have, the same potential ability.

The third thing I want to cover is that the star ratings are COMPARATIVE and as such the potential star rating of your youngsters has a direct relationship with the senior players in his position.

What this means is that as your first team evolves and you bring in better players, the star ratings of your youngsters are going to be compared against better players, once again causing the star rating to be re-evaluated.

I think I have covered everything I wanted to clear up, but I am happy to answer further questions and accept debate on any and all of my points.

The biggest thing to remember about star ratings is THEY DON'T REALLY MATTER ALL THAT MUCH. Trust your instincts, and the players attributes. If you must know at 15 if a player is going to be the next Lionel Messi, then stop fooling around with the star ratings and just go and get yourself the Genie Scout. It is 100% accurate, though it takes all the fun out of the game, in my humble opinion anyway.